Lost and Found

Two Angelina County game wardens responded to a call about a lost hunter in Angelina National Forest. Upon arrival at the scene, the wardens found out the man had been missing for several hours and was a diabetic. Temperatures were dropping because of an approaching cold front so the wardens called UAV operators from TPWD’s Wildlife Division and a Tyler County game warden, and a TPWD K-9 handler for assistance as part of a joint operation with U.S. Forest Service rangers, Jasper County EMS, a Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter and fire department volunteers. After searching for several hours, the wardens received a GPS coordinate of the missing man and they were able to locate him in the woods. He was in a pre-hypothermic state when he was found and was treated by EMS.

When Will You Learn?

Two Polk County game wardens were on night patrol with their deer decoy “Corby” when Corby caught someone’s eye. A truck passed the decoy, slowed to a stop, then quickly reversed and the headlights were positioned onto the decoy. After a brief pause, the sound of a small caliber rifle shot was heard from the vehicle. The wardens approached the subject and they were apprehended without incident. A .22 caliber rifle was found in the back seat of the truck with a spent casing still in the ejection port of the rifle. The subject also admitted to being charged for spotlighting on a public roadway near the same area a few weeks prior to this incident by a different Polk County game warden. The subject was charged with hunting white-tailed deer at night, hunting white-tailed deer using artificial light and multiple Class C citations and warnings. Cases pending.

Liar Liar Deer on Fire

An Upshur County game warden received a call about two deer carcasses dumped along a shared fence line with a neighbor. The caller said the two carcasses had not been quartered and only some of the meat had been taken off of the two deer. The warden called for additional back up from another warden and when they arrived at the property, the two deer were no longer on the fence line. The wardens interviewed the property owner, but he denied knowledge of the two deer. After a quick investigation, it was determined that a nine-point buck was harvested that morning by his juvenile son. When asked about the carcass, the landowner said they had taken the carcass to a creek a mile away to dispose of it. When questioned about the second deer, the landowner continued to deny claims of there being another deer. After further questioning, the landowner confessed to not harvesting all of the meat from the nine-point buck that morning and showed the wardens to a burn pile on the property where they found the wasted buck with its two front shoulders intact and on fire. The landowner continued to deny there had been another deer until one of the wardens found a partially quartered doe hidden in the high brush. The landowner then confessed. Multiple cases pending.

If I Could Turn Back Time

Henderson County game wardens were conducting an inspection on a local processor when they came across a license that did not have an archery endorsement. During the inspection, wardens found out the deer was harvested the same day the license was purchased, but the license was bought by the hunter later in the evening. The wardens visited the hunter and learned that the deer was harvested under the license of another individual. After further questioning, it was discovered that the hunter asked his wife to go buy a hunting license the same day he harvested the deer so that he could use her tag to harvest another buck. After denying the incident, the wardens were able to use cell phone photos with consent from the couple to put together a timeline proving the deer was harvested by the hunter before the license was purchased by his wife. To further the false claims that his wife had harvested the deer, he had her pose for photos with the deer, which wardens found on the phone. Cases pending.